# Payday Loan Rollover Cost Simulator — See the Debt-Trap Math | PayKedge > See exactly what rolling over a payday loan costs. Move the slider for each renewal and watch the fees stack up against the amount you originally borrowed. Источник: https://paykedge.com/tools/rollover-simulator/ --- FREE TOOL · NO SIGN-UP # Payday Loan Rollover Cost Simulator Can't repay on the due date? Each "rollover" pays only the fee and keeps the full balance owed. Move the sliders and watch what renewing really costs. JC **Reviewed by [Jared Castellano, AFC®](/authors/jared-castellano/)** · Last updated May 24, 2026 ## Your loan Amount borrowed $100**$300**$1,000 Fee per $100 borrowed $10**$17.50**$30 Number of rollovers (renewals) 0**3**10 Assumes a standard 14-day term per cycle. A rollover pays the fee only — the principal is not reduced. Total fees paid $262 on a $300 loan you still owe in full Principal still owed**$300** Total you will repay**$562** Effective APR**456%** Fees vs. amount borrowed **Before you roll over again:** most states require a licensed lender to offer an **Extended Payment Plan** at no extra cost once a year — ask for it. A credit-union [Payday Alternative Loan](/beyond-payday/) (28% APR cap) or earned-wage access can clear the balance for a fraction of what another renewal costs. This tool shows what rolling over a payday loan actually costs you. Punch in your loan size and how many times you've renewed it, and you'll see fee total, principal still owed, and why the math quietly works against you. **Bottom line: after four rollovers on a typical $300 loan, you've paid $262 in fees—and the $300 is still due.** ### How the money actually moves - A payday loan runs 14 days per cycle. - Your agreement likely shows the fee per $100 borrowed—the tool divides by 100 automatically. - Total fees = fee per cycle × (1 original term + number of rollovers). - After four rollovers on a $300 loan, you've paid $262 in fees. The $300 remains untouched. - This simulator uses a flat per-cycle fee and a 14-day term, but your actual protections depend on [local law](/by-region/). ## What am I looking at when the results pop up? Three numbers that tell the real story. First, **total fees paid so far**—every $17.50 per $100 chunk you've handed over, stacked up. Second, **principal remaining**—usually the full amount you borrowed, sitting there untouched. Third, the **effective APR**—which annualizes that flat fee over 14 days so you can compare it to other credit. The storefront quotes a flat fee—$17.50 per $100 sounds manageable. But that fee repeats every 14 days. ## Why does my principal never shrink? Because most rollovers are just extensions. You pay the fee to buy another two weeks. The $300 you borrowed? Still sitting there. After four rollovers, you've paid $262 in fees. After four rollovers, you've paid $262. You still owe the original $300. This is where the industry framing soft-pedals the pain. They call it a "convenience fee for more time." You're not paying down debt. You're renting it. ## How do I use this thing step by step? 1. Enter your loan amount—the tool divides this by 100 automatically. 2. Enter the fee per $100 your lender quoted. If you don't have it, check your agreement; it likely shows the fee per $100. 3. Count your rollovers carefully: zero means you haven't renewed yet, one means one renewal, and so on. 4. Hit calculate and read the totals. Ask yourself: does this match what I've actually paid so far? ## What if the numbers look wrong? They might be. This simulator is an educational estimate using a flat per-cycle fee and a 14-day term. Real lenders sometimes layer on database fees, card verification charges, or other add-ons that don't show up in clean math. Some states cap rollovers; others don't. Check [your state's rules](/by-region/) to see what's actually allowed versus what the tool assumes. ## Where do I go if I can't keep rolling? The simulator shows the trap. It doesn't get you out. If you're staring at fees that already dwarf what you borrowed, you need a different playbook entirely. Our guide on [what happens if you can't repay](/guides/what-if-you-cant-repay/) walks through negotiation tactics, state-specific protections, and why silence hurts more than asking for help. For credit that doesn't renew forever, see [alternatives that actually pay down](/beyond-payday/). ## Frequently asked questions I've rolled three times already—why does my principal still say $300? Because that's how the fee structure works. At $17.50 per $100, a $300 loan rolled four times costs about $262 in fees—while the $300 principal is still owed. Your payments covered fees, not the loan itself. Most agreements work this way unless you specifically paid extra toward principal, which rollover terms rarely allow. Is the APR on my results my actual interest rate? No. The effective APR annualizes the per-cycle fee over a 14-day term, so it reflects the price of the credit regardless of how many times it is renewed. It's a translation tool—helping you see what that flat fee costs if you stretched it across a year. Your loan contract doesn't use APR; it uses the flat fee per $100. Can this tool tell me if my lender is overcharging? Not definitively. It can flag when your fees exceed what the flat-fee math predicts. But your actual protections depend on local law. Some states ban rollovers entirely; others limit them to a specific count. If your lender charged fees beyond what the simulator calculates for your rollover count, that's worth a closer look—or a call to your state regulator. #### See lower-cost options first Compare a payday loan against alternatives that don't renew — PALs, earned-wage access, and more. [Compare alternatives](/beyond-payday/) 🔒 No application required to browse --- #### More tools - [Affordability checker](/tools/affordability-checker/) - [Payday vs. alternatives](/tools/payday-vs-alternatives/) - [Loan cost calculator](/tools/cost-calculator/)